Page 23 of A Female Alpha for the Lycan Prince

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Liam hisses. “Annalise gave me a summary, but I assume she left out a few details. I still heard enough.”

“I honestly didn’t mean to insult her this time,” I say and mean it.

“This time?” Liam asks sharply.

I blink. “What?”

“You saidthis time,” Liam states, his eyebrows furrowed. “Does this mean there were more occasions I don’t know about? Is that the reason Jun barely talks to you and Ella is close to punching you in your face?”

“You noticed,” I stutter.

“Of course, I noticed!” he hisses in sudden anger. “I just didn’t know that it was about my mate. Now I know. Fuck, Marius! You’re my brother. I know we aren’t as close as we were as kids, but you’re my family. Why do you have to treat my mate, the woman I love, like she’s beneath you?”

“I don’t think she’s beneath me,” I mutter.

“What is it then? Is this about me? Do you want to hurt her to get back at me?”

“No!”

“Then what’s going on? Because I don’t understand what the heck you think you are doing.” He looks at me insistently. “When I asked if you wanted to join Annie and me here at Red Claw, you said yes. I made it very clear to you that I would be your alpha here, and I specifically told you that I couldn’t cut you any slack. You said you didn’t mind.”

“I don’t mind,” I argue. “I don’t mind your position at all. In Silverlake, Dad was my Alpha, here it’s you. That’s not the problem.”

“Then what is the problem?” he demands to know. He sighs, softening his tone. “You’re spiraling downwards every day. You look like you haven’t slept in weeks; you are pushing everyone away who tries to be nice to you. You insult my Beta’s mate. You insult my Beta, my Gamma, my mate. You weren’t like this before! What happened?”

I’m not sure what to say.

“Mari, if you don’t talk to me, how can I help you?” Liam asks quietly.

“You sound like Dad,” I say. I feel tired. “You are not my father, Liam.”

“You’re right. I’m not. Because if Dad had even a remote idea about what you’re doing, he would kick your ass.”

He’s right. He absolutely would.

Liam looks at me. “Nothing? You have nothing to say?” He frowns. “Alright, I’ll tell you something: You insult my mate once more, and you will face my wrath. And it won’t end with us sitting here discussing it. You won’t insult Annalise, and you won’t act rudely toward her. If I see or hear it ever again or get a hint from anyone that it is happening, you will face a problem.” He sits down, rubbing his forehead. “Just leave now,” he huffs.

I sigh. I want to say something. I want to apologize, tell him it’s not his fault or Annie’s, and that I absolutely hate the way I am right now and how I keep hurting everyone around me. But no words leave my lips. I stand up, ready to leave the room. Before I can do so, Liam looks at me again.

“I love her from the bottom of my heart,” he says quietly. “And I love you. You are my brother, Marius, my brother. Do you really not care?”

The tone in his voice is still angry but also sad. I swear I can feel something inside me break slightly at the way he looks at me.

Aurelia

*VALERIE*

“I’msogladwehave most of our classes together,” Jazz beams. “We really got lucky.”

“That’s true,” I smile happily. It’s so much more fun with Jazz. “Marilou shares a few classes with us too. That’s cool.”

Like me, Marilou didn’t go to school regularly due to her past alpha, who tormented the pack. We bonded a bit because of our awkwardness around others.

“She said we can visit Red Claw today to work on our assignment,” Jazz grins. “That’s cool.”

“Yep,” I nod, although I feel a bit nervous to see their luna, Annalise. After all the history between her and Lauren, I wonder if she loathes me too.

We head towards our lockers when I notice a group of five guys staring at us. I try to ignore them at first, acting as if they aren’t there. They whisper to each other loud enough for us to hear what they are saying, though. It’s mostly about me, and how I shouldn’t be there, how I’ve got traitor blood in me.